The Price of Oil

An unprecedented national collaboration between National Observer, The Toronto Star, Global News, the Michener Awards Foundation, the Corporate Mapping Project and four journalism schools investigating the impacts of the oil and gas industry on Canadian communities.

A joint investigation by the Star, Global News, National Observer, the Michener Awards Foundation and journalism schools at Ryerson and Concordia universities revealed a troubling pattern of secrecy and potentially toxic leaks in Sarnia, Ont.

Federal researchers have drafted a proposal that suggests hydrogen sulfide gas, which can kill a person in high concentrations, is a non-toxic substance under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act. Hydrogen sulfide, also known as sour gas, can leak from the wellheads, pipes, tanks and flare stacks of the oilfields.

Two years after Saskatchewan government and oil and gas industry officials discovered a string of 'serious infractions' related to dangerous hydrogen sulfide gas, Jeff Crawford, an unsuspecting oilpatch worker swallowed a toxic soup containing the substance. His life has never been the same.

Ontario is giving a $100-million grant to a Sarnia-area petrochemical company currently under investigation by the province’s environment ministry. Alberta-based Nova Chemicals, which operates three plants in the Sarnia region, is being investigated over allegations it didn’t properly report a Nov. 8 incident at its site in Corunna, south of Sarnia.

Saskatchewan Energy Minister Nancy Heppner dismissed The Price of Oil investigation's findings, while inside the Ministry of Environment, a Saskatchewan official praised it as "thorough and impressive."

Nova Chemicals in Corunna, south of Sarnia, evacuated staff to a “safe location” Wednesday after a potential leak triggered plant alarms, the company said. Hydrogen sulphide, which has a rotten egg odour, can paralyze the human sense of smell and cause death at high enough concentrations. The ministry spokesperson said staff are investigating why Nova didn’t immediately report the spill.

It’s not clear when the leak began — a source said staff were warned that “the leak happened last night and (was) still not contained” — but the chemical involved Wednesday afternoon was hydrogen sulphide, said an alert issued by the nearby First Nations community of Aamjiwnaang.